Devil Girl from Mars (1954)
The planet Stheno recedes into the distance, and at the console of the Silver Swift, Nebuleena wonders when the sadistic Amazon governor will discover her protective crystal pendant has been replaced with a forgery. Hopefully, it'll be when she next raises her electrowhip to a bitter Gorgonean and is psychically paralysed. Nebuleena studies her newly acquired, and valuable, purple Bellatrixian mind-crystal pendant, then activates the stardrive and vanishes from the Gorgonea Tertia star system.
Premise
Three years after Klaatu and Gort landed in Washington D.C. to deliver their message to humanity in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), another alien and her robot companion tried a similar scheme in Scotland with entirely more sinister intentions.Devil Girl from Mars begins with the destruction of an airliner in flight - something which is never explicitly explained as far as I can tell - and reports on the radio of a meteorite fall in the Scottish Highlands. In a remote location, The Bonnie Charlie inn, run by the Jamiesons, is about to have a singular evening for visitors. First, there's convicted wife killer Robert Justin, recently escaped from prison and seemingly interested in rekindling a prior relationship with barmaid Doris. Then comes Professor Hennessey, accompanied by journalist Michael Carter, lost while investigating the supposed meteorite. They join guest Ellen Prestwick, a model fleeing a bad relationship, on whom Carter immediately puts the moves. Finally, after their meal is interrupted by the noisy arrival of an alien spaceship, comes Nyah.
The guests soon discover the cars and phones are dead, and an invisible force field prevents their escape. Martian Nyah, black-clad and raygun toting, claims the men of Mars were depleted after losing a war of the sexes; little matter for surprise if Nyah is representative of Martian women. So, she's come to Earth looking for suitable breeding stock, presumably because, as we know from other movies of the era, all the other inhabited planets in the Solar System are also populated entirely by women. She had been on her way to London, but due to her misjudging the thickness of Earth's atmosphere, part of her ship broke away, so now she's making the most of it in this remote Scottish pub. (Yeah, Earth's atmosphere is just thick with passenger planes to collide with, Nyah!) A Scottish pub isn't a bad place to look for a date. It's working for journalist Michael Carter and model Ellen Prestwick. And convict Robert Justin and barmaid Doris. However, in keeping with her dominatrix-like fashion choices, Nyah has little interest in such a consensual arrangement, and will heed no safe word.
Over the course of the movie, the guests try to outsmart Nyah in various ways, and she, in turn, torments them with threats, at one point abducting the inn's proprietors' young nephew. For all her power, she seems most proud of her hulking, clunky robot companion, Chani. With a ray that shoots from his head, he's able to incinerate trees, vehicles and buildings.
Nyah talks of being the advanced guard of a powerful Martian fleet, and of her spaceship being somewhat experimental, but it's not really clear that defeating Nyah will dissuade a future invasion.
With its eclectic characters and minimal locations, Devil Girl from Mars feels at times like an adaptation of a stage play. In fact, I'm surprised we've yet to see a Devil Girl stage musical to date. However, the relationships and tensions set up near the beginning never seem to reach their potential under the overbearing presence of the extraterrestrial threat the characters face. The crux of the story is whether Robert Justin is a desperate criminal by nature or a man wrongfully convicted for an accidental death, and the movie does keep you guessing.
All screenshots of Devil Girl from Mars taken by me for purposes of review. If you dispute the fair use of these images, contact me at ptbyrdie@gmail.com.
With its eclectic characters and minimal locations, Devil Girl from Mars feels at times like an adaptation of a stage play. In fact, I'm surprised we've yet to see a Devil Girl stage musical to date. However, the relationships and tensions set up near the beginning never seem to reach their potential under the overbearing presence of the extraterrestrial threat the characters face. The crux of the story is whether Robert Justin is a desperate criminal by nature or a man wrongfully convicted for an accidental death, and the movie does keep you guessing.
Nyah's characterisation is a little inconsistent. Her very first act on arrival is to incinerate the inn's handyman for not being a worthwhile enough specimen of manhood, and she has the ability to temporarily paralyse everyone around, incinerate any threats, and carry off whichever male she wishes. Yet, she plays games with threats and demonstrations of force, as though, at heart, she really doesn't want to hurt anyone unless it's necessary. However, Patricia Laffan's captivating performance makes Nyah a compelling threat, and it comes across that the occupants of The Bonnie Charlie feel the burden of being, by chance, the first defence against this alien menace. What they do here will determine the fate of Earth.
Scottish director David Macdonald seems best known for his work on thrillers and historical dramas, but this science fiction work is well directed.
The actors all play their roles earnestly. Patricia Laffan, also known for her equally fun portrayal of Nero's wife Poppaea in Quo Vadis (1951), is perfectly sinister and domineering as Nyah. Hazel Court, who plays Ellen, and Adrienne Corri, who was Doris, both appeared in a number of horror and thriller movies and TV shows throughout their careers. John Laurie, landlord Mr Jamieson, was already thirty years an actor and twenty years a movie actor by this time, and would become iconic on TV as Private Frazer in Dad's Army (1968-1977). Were there ever a situation needing someone to proclaim, 'We're doomed,' it's in this movie; unfortunately, we're denied that pleasure. Joseph Tomalty brings just the right amount of inquisitive, nervous energy to his role as Professor Hennessey. Peter Reynolds portrayal of convict Robert Justin is pivotal, and he's the perfect actor to make the viewer question whether he's an ally to the other characters, or a secondary menace.
The look of this movie is a mixed bag. The remote, windswept location is suitably spooky, and Nyah fits right into it. I have a soft spot for Nyah's flying saucer, all illuminated with its spinning midsection, landing thrusters and extending legs. Although still clearly a model, it feels substantial. Nyah's sleek raygun is also a nice design that suits her no-nonsense persona. On the other hand, Chani, her robot who is supposed to be so menacing, with his glass head and limp, corrugated arms, looks comical. He doesn't do much apart from show off how well he can destroy random things. Still, every space adventurer needs a robot companion, I suppose.
Then we have Nyah, whose outfit is brilliantly campy and dark. She's a proper cape swooshing space villian. Her look and demeanour might give one the impression that a certain Sith lord from a galaxy far, far away had passed through the Solar System and left a bun in a Martian oven (assuming his spatula wasn't singed off by that lava).
The effects in this movie are adequate for the time. I've seen worse from subsequent decades.
Cast and Crew
Scottish director David Macdonald seems best known for his work on thrillers and historical dramas, but this science fiction work is well directed.
The actors all play their roles earnestly. Patricia Laffan, also known for her equally fun portrayal of Nero's wife Poppaea in Quo Vadis (1951), is perfectly sinister and domineering as Nyah. Hazel Court, who plays Ellen, and Adrienne Corri, who was Doris, both appeared in a number of horror and thriller movies and TV shows throughout their careers. John Laurie, landlord Mr Jamieson, was already thirty years an actor and twenty years a movie actor by this time, and would become iconic on TV as Private Frazer in Dad's Army (1968-1977). Were there ever a situation needing someone to proclaim, 'We're doomed,' it's in this movie; unfortunately, we're denied that pleasure. Joseph Tomalty brings just the right amount of inquisitive, nervous energy to his role as Professor Hennessey. Peter Reynolds portrayal of convict Robert Justin is pivotal, and he's the perfect actor to make the viewer question whether he's an ally to the other characters, or a secondary menace.
Design
Then we have Nyah, whose outfit is brilliantly campy and dark. She's a proper cape swooshing space villian. Her look and demeanour might give one the impression that a certain Sith lord from a galaxy far, far away had passed through the Solar System and left a bun in a Martian oven (assuming his spatula wasn't singed off by that lava).
The effects in this movie are adequate for the time. I've seen worse from subsequent decades.
The movie's score is spot on, at times creepy and at times dramatic as needed. We should expect no less of Edwin Astley, composer of the classic TV themes for The Saint (1962-1969) and Danger Man (1960-1962); among the definitive sounds of stylish 1960s thrillers. This movie is one of his earliest screen credits.
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